MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes shares her view on sustainable gastronomy and hopes for Macanese food
“Sustainable Gastronomy Day 2021 – Preserving Macanese Cuisine”
As a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, Macao is once again joining the rest of the world to celebrate today (June 18) the Sustainable Gastronomy Day. This year, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is marking the date with the dissemination of a video to raise public awareness about what sustainable gastronomy entails, particularly in relation to preserving Macanese cuisine, part of Macao’s unique gastronomic cultural heritage.
Titled “Sustainable Gastronomy Day 2021 – Preserving Macanese Cuisine”, the video features MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Chef of Macao Institute for Tourism Studies Educational Restaurant Hans Lee Rasmussen, Macanese Chefs Florita Alves and Otilia Novo, as well as students aspiring to become chefs, who share their views on sustainable gastronomy and their take on how to maintain Macanese cuisine relevant for future generations. Produced by MGTO in partnership with Macao News, the video is being disseminated on the websites of both entities, along with their official accounts on social media platforms and other channels, including at: https://www.macaotourism.gov.mo/en/videogallery/1829. The video presented today is the culmination of a work that also includes two related videos and articles released by Macao News since the end of May to gear up for this year’s Sustainable Gastronomy Day.
With its blend over the centuries of Chinese and Portuguese cuisines, incorporating flavors from Africa, India and Southeast Asia, Macanese food reflects Macao’s unique history. Ensuring the preservation of Macanese cuisine as part of the cultural identity of the city, has been one of the main tasks of Macao’s action plan to develop as a Creative City of Gastronomy. A relevant work conducted to preserve this over 400 years of heritage is a Macanese Cuisine Database launched in November last year with a collection of recipes, manuscripts, related books and publications. Macanese gastronomy is inscribed on the List of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2012 and last week was added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Following a UN General Assembly resolution in December 2016, Sustainable Gastronomy Day has been an international observance marked every year on June 18, to raise public awareness about the role sustainable gastronomy can play to help achieve the implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Macao has been marking the Sustainable Gastronomy Day each year following its designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy on 31 October 2017.
